Ice Cream
by Hopeful Romantic
Summary: John introduces Aeryn to chocolate ice cream. Set during the time when they're are on Earth.


**Disclaimer: **It would be shiny if I owned Farscape, alas, I do not. Then again, I shudder to think if I did :) Jim Henson and the grand high Mucky Mucks own Farscape of course. I am making no money from this and no copyright infringement is intended. Any similarity ot any other story is coincidence.

_Ice Cream_; Fumbling Towards Ecstasy; Sarah McLachlan; 1993

**Rating: **I would say PG, PG-13 at the highest for kissing.

**Timeline:** During the time of Terra Firma.

**Summary: **John introduces Aeryn to chocolate ice cream.

**Feedback: **I always appreciate constructive criticism!

**Author's Notes: **This is an effort to work through my "writer's gap" and is also posted on terrafirma. Be warned that I did not go the angst route that this time period could have allowed very easily.

* * *

_** Ice Cream**_

_Your love is better than ice cream…better, than anything else that I've tried…your love is better than ice cream…everyone here knows how to fight…_

_And it's a long way down…it's a long way down…it's a long way down to the place where we started from…_

_Your love is better than chocolate…better, than anything else that I've tried…your love is better than chocolate… everyone here knows how to cry…_

_And it's a long way down…it's a long way down…it's a long way down to the place where we started from…_

John carefully made his way to where Aeryn stood next to the railing surrounding the small back patio of his family's home where it overlooked the private docks. In each hand, he carried a slowly melting chocolate ice cream cone and there was a boyishly charming grin of anticipation on his face.

For the time being, the pain and tenseness between them had been eased by a pleasant evening with his family. Aeryn had shared a family dinner with himself, Jack, Olivia, and Bobby, and the quiet suffering that they had both been laboring under, had eased immeasurably as they freely laughed with each other and enjoyed being close, if only for a moment.

As he reached the gorgeous Sebacean, so casually dressed in blue jeans and a light tank top, John allowed himself to appreciate the beauty of the woman before him. His eye traced the lean lines and rich curves of her slender frame, haloed in the warm light of sunset. When she turned to face him, her ocean blue eyes open and welcoming, John found himself remembering the wonder of loosing himself in their rich depths. She wore her long raven hair loose about her face and shoulders, and for an instant, he had the urge to run the silken strands through his fingers, something that he had not done in what seemed like a lifetime.

Her expression took on a slightly bemused cast as she took in the presence of the foreign objects in his hands.

"What is that?" Aeryn asked, her ocean blue eyes bright with curiosity, but her expression still somewhat dubious.

"It's ice cream," John replied enthusiastically, holding out the chocolate cone to her.

"Come on, Aeryn," he urged her when she still made no move to take the cone from his hand.

"Baby," the endearment slipped from his lips. "It's melting all over my hand here," John pressed, giving Aeryn a lopsided grin.

She tried to not notice how her heart skipped a beat to hear the gentle endearment, and reached for the melting dessert.

When the beautiful Sebacean continued to eye the ice cream cone somewhat dubiously, John chuckled lightly and said, "Trust me, Aeryn, you'll like it."

Carefully then, he licked his fingers of his free hand, unaware of how Aeryn watched him with a slight, fond smile curving her lips. When he finally did return his attention to the ex-peacekeeper, he noticed her smile, and gave her a chagrinned one of his own.

"This is one of the few things besides my family that I'll miss when we go back home," John explained, his deep blue eyes quietly wistful as they met Aeryn's. Then he smiled another lopsided grin and said, "Like this, Aeryn."

Quickly, he took a taste of his own chocolate ice cream, closing his eyes as he savored the taste. When he slowly reopened them, John saw Aeryn watching him intently. For an euphoric moment, he found himself lost in the warmth of her beautiful ocean blue eyes. His heartbeat seemed to still, and in that profound stillness there was nothing but Aeryn; no sky, no earth, nothing but the raven haired woman before him.

"Frell," he swore in surprise as his ice cream suddenly slipped from his light grip and fell with a cool wet sound on the tile next to his blue sneaker.

John looked down in quiet dismay.

"John," Aeryn said softly, offering him her own ice cream cone with a gentle smile.

"Oh, no," he smiled crookedly, "That's yours," he insisted, though his eyes did hold a small measure of longing. "Besides, Olivia'd kill me if I took it from you," he teased.

"I can get another one later," he assured her. "Go on, try it, Aeryn," he urged.

Aeryn shook her head lightly in quiet amusement, but took the cone back and finally risked a taste beneath the eager amusement and anticipation of John's bright gaze. Her tongue darted out quickly to lick at the chocolate treat. After a moment's consideration, she ran her tongue along the length of the melting chocolate scoop, taking a full taste. Finally, she closed her eyes as John had done, and slowly licked the ice cream, savoring the rich flavor.

John watched as Aeryn danced the cool chocolate taste over her tongue. And as her lips slipped into one of the rare bright smiles that he had always loved, John caught his breath in a shivering moment of unexpectedly deep desire.

"Mmm," she murmured as she opened eyes shining with the simple delight of discovery.

Aeryn's eyes locked with John's and she spoke softly. "We could share, John."

He nodded silently and took the cone that she offered to him quietly, noticing where the chocolate ice cream had melted slightly over her fingers. But instead of taking a taste, he set the dessert aside carefully on the nearby patio table.

Aeryn questioned him with her eyes as John brought her hand to his lips. He simply smiled warmly at her for a moment before he sucked gently on her index finger.

"Mmm," he murmured huskily, as he moved to the next finger, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Ahhah," she sighed, her voice catching in a surprised breath.

Aeryn saw a smile in John's deep blue eyes as she gasped slightly.

When he was done with her fingers, John released her hand and she rested it naturally on his chest. Eyes still locked with hers, he reached up with both hands to bury them gently in her hair on either side of her head. Then, slowly, he brought his lips to hers.

The kiss was delicate at first, almost tentative. But when John licked lightly at Aeryn's lips, she opened her mouth and pressed into the caress. He could taste the cool sweetness of chocolate and the richness that was Aeryn alone. John danced his tongue along hers and she matched his motions, deepening the kiss still further.

Soon, they were lost in the moment, hungry for one another. Too long, the pain and tension had kept them from each other, but in this one moment, they were free of it. They gave themselves over to the passion of the their kiss, hands grasping, pulling each other as close as possible.

John pressed Aeryn against the patio railing and she pulled him to her, arching against him.

"Aeryn," John whispered deeply, his very real love and desire undisguised in his voice.

"Kiss me, John," she urged him, her own voice whispering with the depth of her emotions.

"Baby," he breathed and brought his lips to her once more, loosing himself in the sweet taste of her. In heated abandon, they kissed, drowning in the taste of one another.

"Aeryn?" Olivia's voice reached out from the house, coming closer as John's sister moved in the direction of the open patio doors.

Startled, John and Aeryn broke their kiss and John stumbled back from the beautiful Sebacean. As he did so, his foot slipped in the melting ice cream he had dropped earlier, and he fetched up against the table, settling hard against it. His eyes went slightly wide, then resigned, with a look of 'of course,' as he sat heavily on the other ice cream cone just as his sister stepped out the patio doors.

"Aeryn," Olivia began. "Bobby's looking for you. He wants to know if he can tape some video of you enjoying your first ice cream cone…" she trailed of, her eyes questioning. She took in the puddle of chocolate on the tile. Then her bright eyes noticed Aeryn's flushed skin and her brother's startled, almost guilty look.

"John?" Olivia asked, dozens of questions in her voice.

"Hey, Livvy, I think you need to let Bobby know that the 'great ice cream experiment' is a bust, huh?"

Olivia's eyes gleamed with unspoken curiosity as John tried to distract her and manuever her back toward the patio doors.

"Is everything okay, John?" Olivia asked, noticing that her brother seemed somewhat out of breath.

"Of course, Livvy," John replied. "Just tell the 'director' that the whole ice cream thing didn't really go as expected, okay?"

"Sure. Okay…" Olivia answered slowly, trying to figure out just what had happened between her brother and the beautiful alien.

John smiled an innocent, bright smile in his sister's direction and she stepped back into the house.

Once his sister had closed the door after herself, John turned back to Aeryn, who was still leaning against the patio railing.

"Aeryn," John began, speaking softly.

Aeryn remained silent, her blue-gray eyes full of some unnamed emotion and shining slightly with the possibility of trears.

"Aeryn, I…we…" John tried to speak once more, his voice still soft and uncertain.

She pushed herself from the railing and stepped over to where he stood.

"Kiss me," she whispered simply.

John met her eyes as if seeking the answers to every question. Iresistably, his hands moved to cradle her face, his fingers buried in her hair and his thumbs gently caressing her soft skin.

"John," she murmered, "I love you," as his mouth found hers.

He nibbled gently at her lips before she opened her mouth slightly and pressed into the kiss, deepening it. Passionate, intense, and brief, it left them both breathless as they parted and rested their foreheads against each other.

Reluctant to end the moment, they stood close, keeping the walls down for as long as they could.

"John," she whispered.

"Mmm?" he murmered.

"I like ice cream," she replied simply.

Aeryn smiled softly as John chuckled, the warm laugh drifting up to meet the bright evening stars…

_Fini_


End file.
